Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry Formulate New Guidelines for School Transportation

The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry have formulated new guidelines which is expected to be implemented for school vehicles across the country .Guidelines was framed due to the pressure from
Prime Minister's office which asked the ministry to reduce crashes involving school buses.

In the year 2012, Supreme Court had made guidelines that must be followed by schools across the country. Now through an executive order, the ministry is trying to verify them.

"Also, bringing a kind of standardisation is important. These guidelines can work as guiding principles for states," said a transport division official.

According to survey by the road ministry, it was found that about 1.4 lakh people were killed in accidents in India last year. Also it was estimated that about 12,500 children under 17 were killed in accidents in 2015.

It was said by the ministry, a panel of ministry officials and experts will come up with the guidelines within a few months period. The panel refer school bus norms of countries like the US, Italy, UK, Australia, France and the United Arab Emirates to bring upon new guidelines.

According to draft proposals, drivers having 10 years of experience and a clean record is appointed for driving school bus. Apart from it, draft proposals mention that all school buses should be painted yellow color and have grills on windows, first-aid boxes and fire-fighting equipment."The vehicles must be equipped with foolproof door-locking systems…. More importantly, overcrowding should be avoided," continues the proposals.